The Raven's Moon
by Hemlock-And-Key
Summary: "Mother told me you always adored this place..." She whispered, her soft, gentle voice calm and wistful, "l doubt that I will ever understand it...Staring up into this...shifting abyssal plain...it only reminds me that I can be surrounded by others who only offer kind words and praise...and yet...somehow...I manage to be the loneliest being in the land..."


**Hello hello, everyone! My name is Jynx, and I am excited to unveil this...thing. ^_^; Truth be told, I was...nervous about uploading this, but it was 4 a.m. when I finished, so I figured, why not? XD So, without further delay, here's Chapter 1 of "The Raven's Moon".**

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The sun ducked below the horizon, beginning to hide itself away for the night. Her violet eyes glimmered brightly, reflecting the pinkish-orange hues of the sky as she tucked stray tendrils of her silvery hair behind her tiny, pointed ears. A small grin threaded her lips, the warmth of the sun slowly fading from her pearlescent skin. Surveying the Moors at dusk from her cliff-top brought her a peace like no other.

"Mother told me you always adored this place..." She whispered, her soft, gentle voice calm and wistful, "l doubt that I will ever understand it...Staring up into this...shifting abyssal plain...it only reminds me that I can be surrounded by others who only offer kind words and praise...and yet...somehow...I manage to be the loneliest being in the land..." She sighed, her gaze scanning over the earthen sanctuary below. "Don't worry...even if I feel alone...I relish in the though that I never truly am...And...I'm here to look after things...just as I promised I would be..." Her eyes grew misty, but she wouldn't let the sadness of loss cloud her mind. This view always brought her to tears. Instead, the hopes and dreams of one day realizing her true potential swelled to a new vastness. And she felt it because of this agonizingly-beautiful, dwindling light.

So captivated by the spectacle, the young fairy's wings began to vibrate and move. She hovered from the ground, but realizing her own excitement, she regained her composure and tried to land. She let out a panicked gasp, her foot not landing the ground. She hit the sharp edge of the cliff with a heavy thud that knocked the wind out of her. Now, her translucent, paper-thin wings flittered with a frantic pace as she clung to the rocky face for dear life and struggle to pull air back into her lungs. She gritted her teeth, feeling her hands slipping. The rock beneath her left hand disconnected from the rest, and she shrieked breathlessly, plummeting from the immense height. She put her hands over her face, attempting to protect herself. Her body smacked against the crag, tossed about like a rag-doll. A sickening crack rang through her ears. A cry of pain escaped her. She squeezed her eyes shut, whimpering anxiously. In the next instant, the feeling of eminent doom subsided. Her eyes opened, her eyelids fluttering open to a familiar sight.

"M-Miss Maleficent...!" The silver-haired fairy exclaimed with relief, wiping her eyes with her bloodied hand. She could hear the Guardian's wings beating against the breeze. Those strong, dark wings became...enviable by the fairy's standards. After all, her own couldn't carry her more than a few inches from her ground, and their involuntary movement nearly killed her!

Maleficent gave a slight smirk when she heard her name. Looking down, she stated, "You should be more careful, Xero. Look at you, all battered and bruised..."

"I-I apologize, Miss Maleficent..." Xero said softly. She winced, tensing in Maleficient's arm. "I...I think I've broken my...everything..." A sharp pain pierced her back when her wing twitched. She stifled another scream, covering her mouth. She began to tremble slightly, and she bit her lower lip and closed her eyes. "M-My wing...i-it hurts..." She managed to squeak.

Maleficent wore a stony, indifferent expression, but damaged wings...never a lighthearted matter. Especially with a pixie like Xero. She heard things about the night-fairy from the time of her birth. A baby born with hair like a moonbeam, eyes like the night sky, and wings as fragile as a spider's silk. She needed a watchful set of eyes on her at all times, but such a timid and quiet youngling proved hard to monitor. Though being unimpressionable and level-headed came naturally to the child, those traits were accompanied with an almost insatiable curiosity and unwavering determination. That curiosity got her into trouble from time to time, but this was by far the worst incident.

"I'll have to patch you up myself, won't I?" Maleficent asked, feigning a stiff smile to try and mask the underlying concern and keep the mood light.

"If you wouldn't mind...I would be more than grateful..." Xero chuckled nervously and blushing with embarrassment as Maleficent landed with a painstaking slowness. She watched the woman's wings fold up behind her. She sat the night-fairy down near the bank of a shallow pool of water before looking to the sky. Night had finally fallen, and the waning moon had risen into the darkened sky. Xero's eyes narrowed a bit when she spotted a black bird swoop down and land near her. It cawed loudly, causing her to flinch nervously and scoot away fearfully. She winced again, the instinctual fluttering of her crippled wing sending shock waves of sharp searing down through her body.

"Diaval, you're frightening her." Maleficent mildly scolded the crow with a wave of her index and middle finger. The pitch-black feathers disappeared as the body twisted and contoured into the shape of a man.

"My mistake," Diaval said, glancing as the trembling fairy below. He knelt next to her, staring at her with an analytical glint in his eyes. "Who's this, then?"

"This is Xero," Maleficent declared, gesturing to her, "The Moors' resident Night-Pixie." Xero said nothing, still staring at the odd bird-man with a slight frown. "And I think she would appreciate a bit more space than you're giving..."

"Xero, huh?" Diaval said, ignoring his sworn mistress advice and leaning closer to her, "Kinda...weird. But not 'bad-weird'. And a night-pixie? Aren't there other night creatures like you?" He looked at her again, noticing the scrapes on her legs and tatters in her black dress. "What'd ya' do, run through a shrub of nettles?" He questioned, tugging at the dirtied fabric. Xero was quick to slap his hand away, but still remained silent.

"Diaval." Maleficent said with a dangerous edge in her tone.

He was quick to stop, hearing that. Diaval shifted back, but his stare didn't fall away from Xero. He nearly forgot about all the rumors he heard about the elusive moon-fairy...

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"Me...?!" Diaval exclaimed, "Why me?!"

"If not only to keep an eye on Xero while she's healing," Maleficent said, glancing at the sleeping, silver-haired fairy, who lied still underneath a weeping willow tree, "It is to...re-teach you some manners. You frightened her half-to-death last night."

"And when she wakes up, you don't think the fact that I'm sitting here watchin' her won't scare her more?!" Diaval argued irritably.

"Stop your complaining," Maleficent hissed, "You brought this on yourself. I liked you more when you weren't so...finicky."

"Finicky?!"

"Stop shouting...! You'll wake her...!"

Diaval used a hushed tone when he spoke again. "Maybe if she didn't sleep during the day, she could watch where she was going. And shouldn't she be able to care for herself? I mean, really, a pixie her age? Didn't her parents teach her anything?"

"Her father was Nichodemious Nightwing..." Maleficient said quietly, giving her servant a stern look.

Diaval cast a wary glance over the resting pixie. He spotted the lyre of gold resting at the base of tree, along with a few aging texts and an emblem depicting a pair of bat-like wings against the crescent moon. So, it was true...

With a soft, begrudging sigh, he relented. "...Fine. I'll watch out for her. I guess I need something to do, now that you've got your wings back and Aurora is all grown up..." He stared at his feet, trying to keep his voice from shaking as his brow furrowed.

Maleficent caught this slight shift in tone. His change in behavior caught her off-guard at first, but the cause finally came to light now. She didn't vocalize her findings, instead favoring to turn around and take off without another word. She didn't even bother turning him back into a raven.

Diaval stepped back, watching her disappeared as dawn invaded the sky. "Great..." He muttered, running a hand through his pitchy locks. He brushed passed the hanging foliage of the tree, standing against the arched trunk. He looked down at Xero, who still slept soundly in the shade. She had patches up and down her body now, hiding the cuts and bruises she received from her little tumble down the cliff-side. He let himself slide down, still looking at her. "Odd one..." He continued talking to himself, now crawling forward and coming to a halt in front of her. "Odd one, indeed." He crossed his legs one over the other before reaching out to touch her shoulder with his index finger. When she didn't respond, he held her shoulder and shook her around a bit. Xero simply would only lie motionless after his attempt to rouse her from her slumber fell through. "...Huh. Dead to the world, aren't you?" He chuckled quietly, turning his head to match the angle of hers. He straightened up, however, when he spotted the tar-black streak of hair that seemed to taint the rest. In comparison, it almost seemed forged among the other strands, like a misplaced little mistake.

He ran his finger down the long lock of hair, tracing it down her back and eventually across the ground until its end. He rubbed his index finger and thumb together, expecting a smudge of blackness on his digits. The fact that there wasn't one only evoked his sudden intrigue. The next thing to catch his eye were those small, see-though wings. There was a nasty hole in the upper half of her right wing that, for a reason unbeknownst to him, couldn't be sealed with magic. When he reached out to touch, an ominous crackle emanated from it and zapped him before he could draw any closer.

"Damn...!" Diaval exclaimed bitterly, his hand immediately withdrawn and shaking vigorously to combat the sting, "What the Hell kinda magic...?!" He caught a glimpse while they still crackled, and a black mist spiraled around the featherless pinion. For a moment, they shined with a brilliant blue, but the vivid colour, along with the shadowy haze, just as quickly vanished without a trace.

Diaval swallowed hard, his eyes wide with fearful confusion. "Note to self: Don't touch her wings." He said, exhaling loudly as he examined his singed fingertips. "You are definitely something else, ya' know that?" He claimed, crossing his arms over his chest, "With your papery, deadly wings and your crazy hair and your pointy ears and your tiny feet..." He tilted his head a bit, checking for a reaction.

Nothing.

"Of all the fairies I've met, you take the cake as the odd one out. And that's sayin' a lot with a fairy." He said, moving to the opposite said of the tree and leaning against it as he went on. "And if I'm suppose to worry about you, then who's gonna watch out for me?"

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**Well...That happened. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions, so don't be afraid to leave a review, favourite, follow, whatever you may do. Heck, I'm just glad you read this far! Thank you, All, and I'll post another chapter soon.**


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